Dryer appliances generally include a cabinet with a drum mounted therein. In many dryer appliances, a motor rotates the drum during operation of the dryer appliance, e.g., to tumble articles located within a chamber defined by the drum. Typical dryer appliances also generally include a heating assembly that passes heated air through the chamber of the drum in order to dry moisture-laden articles disposed within the chamber. This internal air then passes from the chamber through a vent duct to an exhaust conduit, through which the air is exhausted from the dryer appliance. Typically, an air handler (such as a blower) is utilized to flow the internal air from the vent duct to the exhaust duct. When operating, a blower may pull air through itself from the vent duct, and this air may then flow from the blower to the exhaust conduit.
In order to provide enhanced control of a clothes dryer appliance, it can be desirable to know one or more conditions of air being flowed from the chamber. For example, heated air through the dryer appliance is preferably maintained below a certain threshold temperature, e.g., to avoid damaging articles that are drying within the chamber of the drum and prevent other overheating problems. Certain dryer appliances are equipped with temperature sensors for monitoring the temperature of heated air therein. If the temperature sensor detects overly hot air exiting the drum's chamber, the heating assembly can be deactivated or cycled.
Dryer appliances generally have a single preset threshold temperature for regulating air temperature from the drum's chamber. However, the conditions in which the dryer appliance operates may affect performance. For example, if the ambient conditions are hotter than those at which the threshold temperature is set, the heating assembly may be excessively cycled. In turn, drying times may be increased, inconveniencing users and wasting energy. Moreover, the clothes within dryer appliance may not reach a desired dryness level.
Accordingly, improved dryer appliances and methods for operating dryer appliances are desired in the art. In particular, dryer appliances and associated methods which facilitate time and energy-efficient performance across a variety of conditions would be advantageous.